


Curiousity Killed The Cat - But Satisfaction Brought It Back

by Uncommon_Aura



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Anti-Hero, Crime, Domestic, F/M, Flirting, Other, Self Insert, Self Insert OC - Freeform, Selfship, hero/villain relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-09 22:55:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13491519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uncommon_Aura/pseuds/Uncommon_Aura
Summary: Is it truly a date if your dinner partner is a criminal who shows up out of nowhere to bother you, and you only offer him dinner to keep him from going off to rob someone? Is it no longer considered a date if he steals your communicator and you have to chase him across half of Jump City to get it back? And is he still a bad guy if he saves you from falling off the roof of the building you were fighting him on?





	Curiousity Killed The Cat - But Satisfaction Brought It Back

**Author's Note:**

> I've started re-watching Teen Titans lately, and of course I made a self-insert. I've got a whole thing planned for her, but I decided to write and upload this here thing bc I kinda maybe??? Ship myself with Red X?? 
> 
> This is set after the episode Revved Up, which is briefly referenced. This might end up being integrated into a bigger fanfic/collection of drabbles, but for now it's on it's own.

The sun had just gone down over Jump City, it's last rays illuminating the city just barely. Most of the Teen Titans had headed back to their tower, ready to wind down from a day of fighting crime.

Zephyr, however, was still out in the city, enjoying a bit of alone time where she didn't have to be a Titan. She'd decided to stop at the local pizza joint to treat herself, and was watching the sky darken as she waited for her order. 

She was somewhat distracted when her food arrived, but she noticed the waiter who placed the large pepperoni pizza in front of her. She smiled and thanked him, and finally turned away from watching the skyline.

"Please tell me you don't plan to eat all that by yourself?"

Zephyr nearly screamed out of her seat when she realized that there was someone else sitting across the table. She would have asked where this guy materialized from, but when she registered the suit he was wearing, all questions were answered. It was hard to not recognize the suit Robin had made to catch Slade, after all...

The only question Zephyr had left after identifying him was; What was Red X doing here? Specifically, why was Red X bothering her? She wished she was wearing her mask so she could have potentially hid her brief moment of shock and speechlessness, but alas. All she could do was quickly cock an eyebrow, and look unimpressed with the thief before her. "Why? You want some?"

"Are you offering?" asked X, leaned so far back in his chair that it looked near ready to tip him. 

Zephyr shrugged and pushed the open box towards her uninvited guest. "Sure. Why not?"

Red X paused a moment, likely giving her a confused or surprised look under his full-face mask. Then he leaned forwards, one hand pushing his mask up just far enough to reveal his mouth, and the other reaching for a slice of pizza. "Not with your team today, huh?"

"I've been with my team all day. Haven't you watched the news?" Zephyr asked, grabbing her own greasy slice of pizza. She studied Red X as he pulled his mask up, but she couldn't tell much about his face. He had a more defined jaw and chin than Robin did, but that was just about all she could tell. He looked to be a pretty generic guy, there weren't any defining features that she could currently see. Oh well...

Red X shrugged, and spoke through a mouthful of food. "Nah. Too much politics for me. Besides, if I watched the news, we'd have nothing to talk about? How was your day?"  
Zephyr raised an eyebrow. "And why do you suddenly care?"

X leaned back in his chair again, giving another languid shrug as the chair creaked from his abuse of it. "Why aren't you trying to arrest me?"

"Well, I figure if you're here with me, you're at least not robbing anyone..." answered Zephyr, not amused by the thief ignoring her question to ask his own. "Your turn,"

"Do I need a reason to talk to a pretty girl?" X purred. "Truth be told; I saw you out here by yourself. Couldn't resist investigating,"

Zephyr snorted. "Curiousity killed the cat, hm?"

"Something like that," Red X agreed, rocking his chair back and forth casually. Clearly, he wasn't afraid of it breaking. "But that's not the full saying; They may say that curiousity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back,"

Zephyr almost laughed. Almost. But then she remembered who she was talking to. He was a thief, and he was good at it. Being smooth and charming was in his nature. "So the question is; Are you pleased with what you've found here? Or is this cat out of luck and out of lives?"

Red X hummed. "Well, I'm getting dinner out of this. I say it's a win/win,"

"A win/win? How do I win anything here?" Zephyr asked, breaking her pizza crust into little pizza as Red X reached for a second piece. 

"You get to spend a lovely evening with me," purred the thief. 

Zephyr rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Yeah, wow. Lucky me. That's totally all I ever wanted,"

Red X chuckled at her sarcasm. "Face it. You like me. If you didn't, you would have arrested me by now,"

"I am as far away from liking you as a person could ever be. I'm tolerating your presence right now because it's keeping you out of trouble, and I'm not letting anything get in the way of my downtime. When we're done here, you better run for your life because I will be chasing you, and I will be calling Robin," Zephyr said, tossing a chunk of pizza crust at Red X's head. It bounced off the side of his mask and onto the floor, where a bird swooped down to claim it. 

X's lips pulled into a smile. "Dedicated, aren't you?"

"Why yes, thanks for noticing," Zephyr drawled, grabbing a second piece of pizza. 

Red X snorted. "So. You still think I'm the bad guy?"

Zephyr hummed sarcastically, as if she was actually thinking about it. "Lemme think. You're a thief. You break the law and you steal valuable stuff. So uh. Yeah. Still think you're a bad guy,"

"What about the last time we met?" X asked casually.

"You mean the time where we tried to run each other off the road? Yeah, I remember that. You were trying to steal something that belonged to Robin. Case in point; You're a criminal," Zephyr replied. 

Red X shook his head and raised a finger. "But I helped you in the end, remember? I seem to remember single-handedly defeating every other villain trying to steal Robin's precious briefcase,"

"And I will never understand why," Zephyr mumbled, shaking her head.

"You're too simple-minded, then," hummed Red. "So, who taught you to drive? You're not half bad. A bit sloppy, maybe. But not half bad,"

Zephyr pursed her lips as he roughly segwayed into another subject. "My mentor, mostly. Robin and Cyborg, too,"

"Your mentor? You mean Batman?" Red X asked. 

Zephyr stopped chewing for a moment, before swallowing hard. "How do you know that?"

Red X shrugged casually. "You called Robin your brother once. He was raised by Batman. Easy to assume that he trained you both,"

Zephyr relaxed only minuetely. Okay, that made sense. He used logic to deduce that one, he hadn't been spying on them or something. Though that didn't mean that he hadn't been, but... "Okay, you got me. I was trained by Batman. What of it?"

Red X gave another carefree shrug. "Wasn't trying to make anything of it. I was just saying. So. What was in that case that Robin was so desperate to get back?"

"Oh, like I'm telling you," Zephyr drawled, a touch of venom in her voice. "That's personal,"

Red X chuckled. "Had a feeling it would be. But I figured I might as well ask. After all, I could've made a pretty penny selling it off. But I chose to help poor little Chuckles out, instead. Probably missed out on a fortune,"

"And that's all you care about, huh? Money?" Zephyr asked, clearly not amused by him.

"I care about whatever gets me by another day," replied Red X. "Not everyone is content with basic living. And not everyone gets allowance from Batman,"

Zephyr narrowed her eyes, the wind around them picking up. "Okay, now I know you're spying on us. How do you know I get allowance from Batman?"

Red X raised his hands plactingly. "I'm not spying on you. I just know people who know things, that's all,"

"And they gave you information about us, why?" Zephyr hissed, gesturing at Red X with pizza crust. 

"Figured I should know who I was dealing with. If you knew who I was, you'd do the same thing, wouldn't you?" Red X asked. "And you know; Pizza crust isn't very intimidating,"  
Zephyr heaved a sigh, and launched the pizza crust at X's head. A hand shot up to catch it, and the thief grinned as he bit into it. "Admit it. You'd read up on me, if you could,"

"Alright, maybe I would..." Zephyr mumbled. "But I wouldn't go digging into your personal life,"

Red X gave a soft 'Meh'. "I didn't ask for that part, actually. Guy just gave it to me,"

"Sure," Zephyr drawled, not entirely believing that one. This guy was deceitful, that was one thing she knew for certain. 

"I'm serious. Would I ever lie to someone as pretty as you?" Red X asked.

Zephyr scoffed. "I think you'd lie to your mother if it got you what you wanted,"

Red X cocked his head as if to tell her she was right. "Maybe so. But I don't have any reason to lie to you right now. After all; You still don't know who I am,"

"If you're not careful, it won't stay that way for long," hummed Zephyr.

X laughed quietly. "You don't scare me,"

"You haven't seen me at my worst," replied Zephyr. 

Red X laughed again, a little louder, then leaned forwards. "So what do I owe you for dinner?"

Zephyr sighed as he once again ignored the current conversation. "Nothing,"

"Well how am I supposed to pay you back, then?" Red X asked, pulling his mask back down to completely cover his face. 

"You don't," Zephyr replied, standing up and sliding the money for the pizza under the box. "Remember what I said?"

Red X laughed, and also stood from his chair. "I do," Instead of running, however, the thief walked around the table to stand nose-to-nose with Zephyr. "And I'm still not afraid of you,"

Zephyr glared hard at the thief. "You have five seconds to start running,"

Red X snorted in a way that implied a cocky smirk had spread over his lips. He hesitated for just a few seconds, before sprinting away, vaulting over the railing of the second floor dining area. Zephyr was after him seconds later, letting a slipstream of wind carry her. 

She reached into her pocket for her communicator, intending to call her other Titans, only to find that it wasn't there. She glared up at Red X, who held up the yellow device and waved it around. Zephyr growled, and lunged at the thief. She should have known he would pull something like this!

"Sorry, sweetheart," purred Red X. "But I couldn't let you go cutting our date short, now could I?"

"This is not a date!" Zephyr yelled, following the nimble thief as he climbed from building to building and dodged around other structures. She could only force her current of wind to go so fast, and keeping up with X wasn't easy...

Red laughed and stopped to perch on a sign. "Isn't it, though? We just had dinner, didn't we?"

Zephyr snarled, and willed her stream of air to go just that little bit faster, so she could barrel into Red X's body, and knock him down from the sigh he'd perched on. She grappled with him as they fell, trying to reclaim her communicator. 

They hit the ground hard, with Red X on the bottom. Zephyr's head smacked into the thief's chest, and she bit her own tongue from the jarring impact. Her head swam for a moment, before his voice cut the silence. 

"You okay, cutie?"

Zephyr spit at him, and lunged for the communicator that was still in his hand. He held it just out of her reach, and used some fancy leg maneuver to kick her off of him. From his belt, he produced one of many X themed gadgets, and tossed it Zephyr's way. 

She barely had the time to roll away from the rubber X that surely would have restrained her, and then lunged back at Red X, fists flying. 

Red X blocked the first few hits with one arm, then pocketed Zephyr's communicator to properly start fighting back. She wasn't a bad fighter, but she wasn't as good as him. It only took him four hits to ground her.

The thief kneeled down as Zephyr tried dragging herself back to her feet. "Didn't hurt you, now, did I?"

Zephyr grit her teeth and darted forwards to fist her hand into the front of Red X's cape. "You're gonna be wishing that you did,"

Her fist connected with his mask, sending him rolling back against the ground. Punching a mask wasn't as satisfying as punching someone in the face, but it would have to do.   
Red X groaned as he pulled himself back up to his feet. "Nice swing, darling. But you're going to have to do better,"

Zephyr's eyes were glowing bright white as Red X pressed the button on his belt, intending to abscond from the scene. But it didn't work. His belt sparked, and refused to teleport him. He looked back up at Zephyr as she stalked towards him, her eyes still blazing.

"Technopath," Red X sighed. "Right,"

The thief rolled out of the way of the kick that was aimed towards his chest, then leaped back up to his feet to swing a high kick towards Zephyr's face. All he had to do was break her concentration long enough to use his belt, right?

Zephyr - In a display of the skills she'd learned from Batman - Caught X's leg, ducked under it, and used it as leverage to drag him back down to the ground. Red X laughed as he hit the floor, not bothered by her briefly having the upper hand. "Not bad, sweetie. Batman did good..."

A foot was placed on Red X's chest, Zephyr's burning eyes staring down at him. "My communicator. Now,"

Red X hummed as she pinned him to the ground. "Fiesty, aren't we?" the thief then reached into his belt, but did not produce Zephyr's communicator. 

It took Zephyr a moment to register the red smoke that was suddenly filling the air, and by the time she had, Red X had grabbed her leg, and slammed her into the ground, now bodily pinning her down. The smoke cleared, and Red X found himself looking at blue eyes again - Her hold over his technology was broken then. 

Zephyr grit her teeth, and the wind began to whip around them, thrashing Red X's cape around like a ragdoll. "You have no idea..." Zephyr mumbled.

And then she was grabbing X's cape as it blew near her, and yanked it hard over his head. She drew her legs up, and kicked him off of her. He rolled a few feet away, landing with his cape over his head. He laughed as he righted himself. "You fight dirty. I like it,"

Zephyr narrowed her eyes at him, and they started slowly circling each other, each waiting for the other to make a move. It was Red X who moved first, his hand moving towards the switch on his belt. "So sorry to cut this date short, darling, but I've gotta go,"

Zephyr's eyes started to glow as she lunged for her opponent, but she was too late to jam his teleporter. Instead of colliding with the thief's body, she sailed through thin air, and found herself tumbling off the edge of the building they'd been battling on. 

Her fingers just barely grasped the edge of the building, but the hold didn't last long. She slipped off the edge, and started plummeting downwards. Before she could even think about saving herself, a gloved hand was firmly grasping her wrist, and hauling her back up onto the building. 

She stared up at the person who'd saved her, looking confused and conflicted. "You... You just..."

"Like I said," purred Red X, pulling himself back to his feet. "I'm not a bad guy,"

Zephyr gaped at him as he produced her communicator from his belt, and tossed it at her feet. Then he sprinted to the edge of the building and jumped off.

She could have jammed his teleporter before he triggered it, but she wasn't a bad guy either; She wouldn't leave him to fall to his death. She watched as he vanished into thin air, leaving no trace of where he may have gone to. 

As she dragged herself to her feet, retrieving her communicator and staring down at it, she realized what she'd just done. She'd let him go. He'd saved her, and she'd just let him go...

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zephyr stalked into Titan's Tower at nearly ten PM, looking pissed and like she'd been in a fight. Her fellow Titans were gathered around their giant TV, playing their usual racing games. 

Beast Boy took notice of her first, and grinned at her. "Yo, Zeph! Where've you been! Cy beat your hi- Hey, are you okay?"

The changeling's query got the attention of Robin and the other Titans, who turned to look at their sixth member. "Did you get into a fight?" Robin asked. 

"Yeah... I had an impromptu date..." Zephyr mumbled. 

"A date?" Starfire echoed. "I must be mistaking this with some other human custom... Dates are... Not meant to be fights, yes? When Robin went on a date with the Kitten girl, she did not attempt to-"

Zephyr sighed and interuptted the alien girl. "No, Star. Dates aren't meant to be fights. And I hesitate to call it a date... It was more like me humoring him to keep him out of trouble long enough to arrest him..."

"You... Went on a date with a criminal?" Starfire asked, her eyes widening. 

"I didn't ask for it..." Zephyr replied, running a hand back through her messed up hair. "He just kinda. Showed up outta nowhere... Literally,"

Robin raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, who was it?"

Zephyr was silent a moment, a disgruntled look on her face. "...Red X,"

There was a chorus of protests from her friends. "Red X?! You went on the date with the Red X?!" Starfire cried out, flying over to grasp Zephyr's shoulders.

"Dude! Tell me you tried taking him in!" Beast Boy questioned. 

Zephyr squirmed out of Starfire's grasp, looking somewhat annoyed, but also tired. "It wasn't really a date, Star... I was using the term... Sarcastically. And yeah, I tried taking him in... Of course I did,"

"Why didn't you call us?" Robin demanded, leaning over the couch to look at his sister with a look he'd definitely learned from Batman.

"He took my communicator... I chased him through half the city to get it back. But he..." Zephyr trailed off, unsure how to explain the way her encounter with Red X had ended. 

"He what?" Cyborg questioned, somehow making two words sounding incredibly pressing.

Zephyr sighed heavily. "He saved me... I lunged for him, and he teleported out of the way. I fell off the roof of the building we were on... And he caught me before I went down. I couldn't react fast enough to catch him before he teleported off afterwards..."

There was a long, heavy silence, and Zephyr almost felt like she was being judged. Then, Robin spoke. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Zephyr mumbled. "I think... I think he went easy on me..."

"Flirt like him?" Beast Boy questioned rhetorically. "Yeah, wouldn't put it past him to go easy on a girl,"

Zephyr snorted, like she didn't agree. "He better not make that mistake twice... He might've gotten away this time, but next time, he's going down..."

"Yes!" Starfire agreed. "He has evaded the justice for far too long! We must bring him in!"

"We will," said Robin. "He'll slip up eventually... We'll get him..."

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun had gone down hours ago, and no light streamed through the giant windows of Titan's Tower. Only two Titan's remained awake by now; Zephyr, and Raven. 

Zephyr had commandeered the game station after her fellow Titans had gone to bed, deciding to dedicate her mind to reclaiming the high score on this particular game. Raven was reading an unknown book, and Zephyr hadn't bothered to ask about it. It was entirely possible that Raven wasn't even aware of Zephyr being there. 

Or maybe not... As she finished the race and failed to reclaim her high score, Zephyr became aware of someone definitely looking at her. She glanced to the side to meet eyes with Raven, but then quickly looked back to her game as it returned her to the menu.

"Why didn't you jam his teleporting belt?" Raven suddenly asked, her voice as even an stoic as it always was. 

Zephyr's eyebrows knit together as she looked at Raven again. "What?"

"When Red X escaped. You could have jammed the teleportation device in his belt. Why didn't you?" Raven elaborated, her eyes still trained on her book. 

Zephyr floundered for a moment, before responding. "I did it once to keep him from leaving before I got my communicator back... But after he saved me... The thought didn't occur to me until after he was already off the building and hanging in mid-air... I... I could've. I could've jammed his belt, but... That would have left him to plummet to the ground like I would've..."

"So you took pity on him?" questioned Raven, minuetely raising an eyebrow. 

"No!" Zephyr protested exasperatedly. "I didn't want him to get away... But he. He saved me, and the least I could do was not... Doom him to suffer the same fate he saved me from... I couldn't think fast enough to find another way to stop him before he was gone..."

Raven hummed softly, and was quiet for just a moment. "You liked him," she then stated.

Zephyr stared at her friend for a moment, feeling almost like Raven was accusing her of something. "I did not like him... We try hard to not kill people, don't we? That's just not our thing,"

Raven glanced over at Zephyr then, giving her a look. "I'm the one person you know you can't lie to..."

Zephyr heaved a heavy sigh. "Why does it matter if he was kinda... Charming while we were talking? Are you... Are you scared I'm going to turn on the team...?"

"No," Raven answered. "But I don't want him to trick you into thinking he's a good guy. I don't want to see him hurt you..."

"You don't have to worry about that, Rae..." Zephyr replied quietly, then continued a bit louder. "I know what he is. He's a liar, a thief, a criminal. He'll do whatever it takes to get what he wants. So what if he was kinda charming... He's a criminal... We could never be friends..."

Raven nodded slowly. "I know,"

"Then why'd you ask?" Zephyr questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I wanted to make sure that you knew..." replied Raven simply. "Some people are easily deceived by people like Red X..."

Zephyr sighed out a laugh. "Not me. Next time I see that jerk, I'm taking him down,"

"Good," said Raven.

There was a long pause, before a thought crossed Zephyr's mind. "Do... Do you think the others are... Questioning if I like him...?"

"I don't know," Raven answered. "You'll have to ask them. Robin trusts you, he won't turn his back on you this easily, I know that much. And neither will the others if you remain loyal to us,"

Zephyr hummed. "I intend to. No smooth-talking thief is mucking things up for us, as long as I have something to say about it..."


End file.
